When He Was Young
by DiRosso
Summary: One night, Italy starts thinking about his childhood, which involved a little girl he had a crush on... Young Italy x Fem Holy Roman Empire, along with Italy x Fem Germany Oneshot. The story is basically little parts of the Chibitalia story, except rewritten to have Holy Rome as female who knows Italy's a boy.


Italy hadn't thought about her in a while. It must have been years since he even thought about the girl he had a crush on when he was little. She had bright blue eyes and long blonde hair that was always pulled up in a braided bun. Most of the time she'd wear a black cloak or a long black dress. She never seemed to like the dress.

The girl was always nervous around little Italy, which he didn't understand why. A little while after the two started living in the same house, just the sight of him would make her face burn. The first thing she ever told him was that she didn't understand why he wore a green dress.

"You're a boy, aren't you?" she asked him that day. "I've overheard your people call you 'mister'. So why are you wearing a dress?" Italy never could answer why. Maybe it was because those were the clothes Austria supplied to him. He never knew why it was a dress anyway, but he went with it, considering how strict Austria was.

The little girl was always polite around others, and never said anything disrespectful to anyone. Italy knew she had an enormous amount of power, and had the ability to command her people well. The only downside to this girl was that he hardly saw her smile. She usually seemed sad or embarrassed. He decided he wanted to be the boy who could make her smile. However, every time he'd try to talk to her, she ran off while only speaking what could be considered nonsense.

Italy thought about the time when she suddenly led him far away from any adults, where they could be alone. She looked down with her cheeks the color of the passionate red rose as she tried to mumble something important. However, the boy couldn't understand her.

"You can tell me anything," he assured her. "We're friends, right?"

"Italy, I want you to join forces with me! We'll be the most powerful empire in the world!"

Italy stood frozen for a while before. Thoughts swarmed in his head, but he quickly made the decision to turn down her offer. The little girl's eyes started to water from rejection. Suddenly, she lunged toward Italy and grabbed him by the collar of his undershirt, shouting at him and calling him an idiot for refusing her offer. Italy shrieked, as he had never seen this side of her. He had no idea she was capable of being so aggressive.

"Don't you understand?" she cried. "We'd be an unstoppable team! The whole world will be talking about us! Why would you even think about saying no? I thought you were smarter than this!"

Italy shook his head. "You don't understand!" he shouted back. "You'll get hurt just like my grandfather! If we merge, you'll only die like he did! I don't want anything to happen to you! Please, you have to believe me!"

She let go of Italy, shoving him on the ground in the process. Without another word, she ran off, leaving him alone.

Italy sighed as he remembered the last time he saw the girl. He heard that she would be leaving for an extended period of time, so he ran off to find her to say goodbye. He called out for her in a panic. She turned around, and the sight of Italy made her crumble with the memories of her recent heartbreak.

"What are you doing, Italy?" she asked him coldly once he finally caught up to her. "I'm a little busy leaving, if you haven't noticed."

"I just wanted to give you one last goodbye."

She let out a sigh. "This won't be a goodbye forever," she told him. "I will return once this is over." She looked over at her soldiers. They all looked glum and serious, which worried her. "But just in case, I should probably tell you something, but I don't know how."

"What is it?"

Her cheeks burned like when they were alone. "Italy, I," she paused, "Look, I've liked you for a really long time. And I wished that I could have expressed it more with you, but I've never liked anyone before. It's why I was so upset when you turned down my merger." She sighed once again. "I don't know what I'm doing. Italy, what would you do if you liked someone and wanted to show them?"

Italy thought for a moment. "I'd kiss them."

She stared at him for a moment, shocked by how blunt his answer was. "Kiss?" Her legs shook as she walked closer to him. "I suppose that would probably be the best way to show it." In one quick movement, she grabbed him by the collar once again, but instead of shoving him onto the ground, she pulled him close so their lips touched. Italy was a little surprised at first, but he quickly eased into their childish kiss. She pulled away when one of her soldiers called out to her. "I better get going."

"Wait!" Italy handed an item over to her. "Take this and think of me every time you see it."

That was the last time he ever saw her.

Years later, as Italy grew up, he was visited by France, who was on the verge of tears. He informed Italy that the little girl wouldn't be able to fufill her promise of returning. Her empire had collapsed. Italy was struck with horror as he was suggested to forget about her. It would be the best for him, that way he wouldn't always wait for her return, and he could live a happy life. Tears ran down the boy's face as he nodded in agreement.

Italy snapped out of his little flashback. He wished he could remember what her name was, and what the item was that he gave to her, but it seemed like almost everything about his time with her was nothing but foggy. Italy wasn't even sure what caused him to remember her. He sighed and walked back into the bedroom, where his ally, Germany, slept.

Italy crawled into bed next to her as he usually did almost every night. He remembered the first time he snuck in. She was horrified to find him sleeping there that morning, but she might not have been that surprised as Italy was when he found out she cuddled in her sleep. Germany doesn't believe him every time he tries to convince her that she does. Italy looked right at her as she slept peacefully. Her bangs covered her closed eyes, which were bright and blue when they were open. He took his hand and played with her short blonde hair, which was rather soft.

"That's funny," he whispered to himself. "Germany kind of reminds me of her, except Germany's intimidating and strict." He sighed. "Plus, she wouldn't kiss me in a million years." Italy looked back at his sleeping friend as he felt the temptation to kiss her. Her lips looked rather soft, and she wouldn't even have to know. He lowered his head and leaned close to her. His lips were only a few inches away from hers. However, Italy pulled back. "What am I thinking? I can't do this while she's asleep! She's my friend!" He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "She's my beautiful and amazing friend, who cares for her people and is easily embarrassed. She's a great leader and is strong. She's got to be the most amazing woman I've ever met."

Italy moved closer to her again, but instead of attempting to kiss her, he simply wrapped his arms around her chest, pulling her close to him with her head resting gently on his shoulder. He knew in the morning, Germany would wake up, see the position she was in, scream, blush and pull away. Even though she'd react negatively, Italy didn't care. He loved her and he hoped that maybe one day, he'd be able to kiss her, like that girl years ago kissed him.


End file.
